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Topic: Budweiser Isn't what it used to be...? (Read 6590 times)

My dad asked me to see if anyone remembers the change, and if they know why it changed.

He told me that long before I was drinking beer, or alive. Budweiser had a very distinct flavor, that set it apart from other beers. At some point they changed the formula and it lost it's individuality.

Does anyone know what happened.

I just thought of this! Does anyone have a recipe that would mimic or clone that old Bud. That would be a batch he would love to help me brew.

InBev took Anhieser Busch over. They cancelled the contract with the hop farm where they got their hops and went to cheaper ones. They quit using whole rice and went to broken rice. They also cut back on the amount of grain they use. A bud today is not the same as a bud in 2005.

I remember reading in Charlie Bamforth's book (or maybe heard it in his lecture series) about how Bud cryogenicly freezes beer so that they can compare their product from year to year. He said that they found a significant bitterness drift towards less bitterness over the long run but less from year to year. So I guess Bud hasn't changed much from this year to last year but has changed significantly from 1980 to now.

What I have read is that since the seventies they have reduced the bitterness by almost 70%. It used to be much closer to it's roots as a bo-pils. but with hops being the single most expensive ingredient they figured if they did it bit by bit no one would notice.

Back in '74 our German exchange students unanimously said Budweiser was the closest beer to what they drank back home. It wasn't the same, but closest. 15 years later, I couldn't believe anyone would think of saying that as I was living over there for the next 5 years. Must have been a heck of a change that occurred at some point.

The formula for Budweiser has changed many times since it was first brewed. I was once told by someone inside the company that the formula had probably changed a dozen times since the 1940's alone. In any case, there's no doubt whatsoever that it's definitely a considerably different product than when it was first introduced.

I suspect that if were possible to taste Budweiser as it was first produced in the 1800's, it would be quite a surprise. And not a bad surprise, either.